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Astronaut for hire: Space tourism will help science

By Celeste Biever

Brian Shiro, president of Astronauts4Hire, explains how the commercial space race is changing what it means to be an astronaut

What’s the idea behind Astronauts4Hire?

Our aim is to train a highly qualified group to become the first scientist-astronauts for hire by researchers wanting to fly experiments in space. People will be able to go to our website and search for astronauts with the type of scientific and flight expertise they want.

Why is now the right time for this service?

Since 2004, when SpaceShipOne became the first commercial spacecraft to take a person up into …